Puerto Rico pays off Clean Water Fund debt

Author: Sean Ruditz

After a year of delighting conservatives and investors with tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks, Pres Trump is finally following through on the tough trade rhetoric he had during his campaign. The type of rhetoric that terrifies economists, investors, republican leaders and lower-income citizens around the US, who will ultimately have to pay more for goods and services. This couldn’t have come at a worse time for the islands of Puerto Rico who have been suffering the past 6 months from the devastation of Hurricane Maria and higher consumer prices will further impede the territories’ ability to stabilize economic growth....

On September 20, Puerto Rico began its gruesome journey into what came to be the longest blackout in US history. The islands’ fragile energy grid was already ripe for clobbering long before the storm, and the devastation of hurricane Maria’s 155 mph winds and torrential rainfall did just that. After a painful five months and a failed controversial contract to restore power with Whitefish Energy has passed, the embattled islands have shown signs of some progress towards economic recovery. Last week, Congress approved a much-needed emergency assistance of $2 billion to repair the severely damaged power grid and an...

Whether it’s a story about a friend of a friend who got rich quick or if you heard it on a financial news show over recent months, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by the cryptocurrency craze that is taking the world by storm. Unfortunately for Puerto Rico, they were hit with a similar unprecedented storm. This one though, was caused by mother nature and was much less favorable for the territory of Puerto Rico. In September, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and not only escalated their ongoing financial crisis, but also added a humanitarian and energy grid crisis...

The ripple effects of Hurricane Maria’s destruction have far exceeded previous expectations. Puerto Rico’s electrical grid was nearly wiped out after Maria. Surprisingly, in a statement made December 8th by the Puerto Rico Power Energy Authority (PREPA), the grid is still only functioning at 68% of its capabilities. Among the millions who lost power, were the islands’ hundreds of pharmaceuticals and medical suppliers. According to a recent FDA economic analysis, Puerto Rico produces more pharmaceuticals for the mainland than any of the 50 states and more than any single foreign country. This has developed into a major issue for...

Puerto Rico is in on the verge of the worst electricity outage in US history. Over half of the US island territory is still without power even though two months have passed since the catastrophic Hurricane Maria made landfall. In response, droves of Puerto Ricans are fleeing to the United States in hopes to return to somewhat normal living. The vast majority though, are electing to stay and begin to rebuild, fueled by the pride they have for their homeland. Unfortunately, the Puerto Ricans don’t have the resources to fix this situation and there isn’t a strategic plan to solve...